Last week, I read an article about writing well, but that article was geared mostly toward graduate students and people publishing research. Recently, I’ve had the pleasure of helping some local high school students with papers they have to write, and I’ve been thinking about this article I read, wishing it was more universally applicable. Some of its tips are good, but some aren’t very relevant to, say, a high school junior. That got me thinking. I honestly cannot (and do not) claim to be an expert on writing well; you can judge for yourselves whether or not I myself can even write well, and I humbly accept any censure you may impose. This post is, by no means, to be taken as a standard. That being said, in my endeavors to write well and get good grades, I have learned a few things here and there. Some of those things repeatedly emerge as reminders, and I thought I might jot them down. Take them as you will.
1. The first thing to know about writing well is this: you write what you read. If the bulk of your reading material is Facebook comments and Twitter feeds, then your writing style is going to reflect it. If you read things written in the 18th century more often than not, your writing will sound archaic. If you are truly serious about improving your writing, you have to start by improving your reading. Newspaper articles are a good place to start: The New York Times (despite it’s flawed politics), The Economist, and/or Wall Street Journal. Not only will these help with vocabulary and grammar, but they’re also concise and to-the-point–which is something a lot of people struggle with when they try to write (see #2 below). You don’t want to only read journalism, though, if you can help it. Find a good book, too–any topic will do–written in the last 50 years. Preferably one written by an acclaimed author, but if not that, then published by a major publishing house. Those houses will have top-notch editors. If you are writing for a specific trade, it is a good idea to immerse yourself in the writings of that trade. The more you read academic articles, for example, the better you will be able to write in that style. Read for 30 minutes a day. Enjoy it. You don’t have to take notes, you don’t have to try and analyze the writing style. Just read it, absorb it. (Gradually, if you make this a habit, you’ll probably find yourself starting to notice style and techniques. That’s good, too. Don’t fight it :).
2. Forget about writing well (at first). The biggest problem I see in young writers is their misconceptions about what it means to write well. There are all kinds of technical errors I can point to (particularly the overuse and abuse of the passive voice), but the main problem is this: people trying to write well often complicate something quite simple. They add all kinds of unnecessary words, adverbs usually, in all kinds of unnecessary places. It is as if they are being taught to speak, and then for some reason, they get the idea that the quality of speech is measured by volume. A scream is not necessarily better than a whisper. It is merely louder. Just say what you want to say. Figure out what exactly you want to say, and write that. Don’t wrestle with it. Just say it. What is your point? And what proof do you have? The simpler you keep it, more often than not, the better the quality of writing. And if not, there’s always revising–but I’m getting ahead of myself.
3. Know the “what.” Know what you want to say–your overall point, your main argument, your position on the issue. If you don’t know, no one else will either.
4. Know the “why.” This is one of the best pieces of writing advice I’ve ever been given. A professor in college asked me, “Why did you write this paper? Why should I read it? You always need to be able to answer that when you write.” The answer is never “because I have to.” Rather, what is it about your argument that matters? Why should someone to read it? In an academic environment, this can feel a little forced (obviously, you’re writing because you have to, because the essay was assigned), but with a little practice you can get past that. Something about your argument has to be (or at least feel) important enough to you that you would write about it. And you have to tell your reader what that “why” is.
5. No one is a mind reader. Not your teacher, not your boss, not your editor, and not you in 2 months’ time when you re-read your own essay. The only thing you are able to communicate are the actual words on the page–your readers cannot know the implied logic that seems to apparent to you; they cannot make conclusions if you do not give them evidence. If you say “the street was dark,” some people will assume it was night, and some will assume it was cloudy. For every conclusion you make, you must give evidence or examples. Spell out the logic. In some cases, especially when writing about a text, you can assume the reader read the material, but that doesn’t mean they have read your mind and know what you are trying to say. Be specific. Be Be Specific.
6. The importance of transitions. Transitions are one of those things that most of us don’t learn to focus on until late in our academic career, but they can make all the difference in the world. How does paragraph 1 relate to paragraph 2? What thought joins them? Why does paragraph 2 follow paragraph 1? Why did you mention things in that order? Usually a short sentence, sometimes even just a phrase, does the trick of connecting the two paragraphs. This is somewhat of a subset of my previous point; because the reader cannot read your mind, she cannot know why you think two paragraphs are related unless you tell her.
7. My favorite quote (about writing) is by James Michener. He said “I’m not a very good writer, but I’m an excellent re-writer.” The whole trade is summed up in this quote. First of all, it doesn’t matter how good of a writer you are; you will have to revise. Secondly, it doesn’t matter how bad of a writer you are; you will get to revise. There is no way around it. Get used to it, and get over it. Actually, I could have mentioned this as the first item. It is the most fundamental of practices, in one sense. So when you write, put your thoughts down as clearly as possible. Specifics. Examples. Citations. Transitions. And then take a break–a day or two; a week or two is generally best–and go back and revise. Take a fresh look at it. Is the logic still clear to you? Do the examples help make the point? Do the words make sense? And so on.
8. Read your paper aloud. When you think you are finished, read it aloud. Read with enthusiasm and gusto. You may laugh, but I’m telling you–this works. Listen to the words. Do you hear yourself using the same word over and over again? Does your logic make sense to you? Do you feel like you left something out? The more you read in general, the more attuned you’ll be to this kind of thing. Make any changes you need to based on the reading. (Reading aloud is also an excellent way to catch proofreading errors.)
This is hardly an exhaustive list. I haven’t even mentioned the technical side of things (grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc.); those things are obviously incredibly important. It’s been my experience that many shortcomings in this area are taken care of by improving the quality of materials one reads. Spelling and punctuation can be checked in dictionaries and style guides; grammar is a little trickier, but I believe that when we keep our writing simple, the number of grammatical errors decreases.
Writing well takes a lot of practice and some educated guidance; that’s why universities usually have a writing component requirement for all undergraduates. They know that the more students are forced to write and be evaluated on their writing, the better they will become. Even now, with two degrees in English and more essays under my belt than I can even remember, I’m still in the process of improving my writing. Everything I write has its errors, and everything I write can be improved. Unlike Mr. Michener, I am a far cry from being an excellent re-writer… but I’m working on it :)
Every writer I know has trouble writing. -Joseph Heller
